


family ties

by Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: POV Second Person, oc character study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25397941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell/pseuds/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell
Summary: Your name is Vanessa Thomas, and you are a human in a very unusual family.
Kudos: 6





	family ties

Your name is Vanessa Thomas, and you are very young when you find out about the secret war on Earth. You don’t know much about it. There are aliens, that crawl inside people’s ears and take over, because its the only way that they can see and move and do all the things that most people do.

Your mom is one of these aliens. Her name is Ahris 473. Her host’s name is McKenzie. And the way that Ahris tells it, McKenzie had all but given up on life when she went to the Sharing. You weren’t even two then, and your mother was having a hard time balancing work and taking care of you with her depression. 

So… she gave in. They promised to take care of you, and they promised to keep you uninfested. They’ve made good on that promise. And Mom- Ahris- has raised you ever since. 

Your father is also an alien. 

Your father is Visser Three, the leader of the people invading Earth. Odd as it is, you’re one of the only people he actually cares about. You, and your Mom. They keep their relationship, and the fact that you know what they are, a secret from the yeerks. To all the underlings, she’s merely the only assistant of the Visser’s who’s managed to avoid his wrath. 

At home, though, when it’s safe, he’s less angry and blustering. He’s relaxed. He presses his palm to your Mom’s cheek while she’s cooking, and you look away because its something private. And no one likes to see their parents kissing. At home, he calls your Mom his wife, and you his daughter. He trains you with dracon beams, and all the best ways to defend yourself. He makes sure you’ll never be helpless. This is what you recognize as his way of showing love- giving you the means to protect yourself. And eventually, others. 

Because there are others. When you’re a child, your father goes to space. He returns with a baby andalite, who you learn is your new brother. You don’t ask your father how your brother came to exist. You just clutch his delicate hand, gently, worrying about him falling on his shaky baby hooves. 

Andalites grow quicker than humans, and your brother becomes your best friend. The two of you tell each other everything. The two of you depend on each other for everything. Your father doesn’t like that you need to depend on someone. But he also says, with a fond look at your mom that you pointedly ignore, that having people who have your back is a good thing. And the people who have your back are your family, so you’re as safe as you can be.

The last addition to the family is Cyleen. She’s an impossible hybrid, a mix of human and andalite. Father says it was an attempt to create the perfect host. (You’re not sure he’s telling the truth, but you don’t really care. If your mom or dad wanted another kid… well, you’re fine with another sibling.) The result is her- this tiny girl with lilac-tinted skin and short hair, with eyestalks that have blurry vision. With wide eyes and trembling hands, and her tail dragging against the floor. With something between hooves and feet that can’t quite cling to the floor as they should.

You look at your baby sister, and you know you would  _ die  _ before you let anything bad happen to her. Before you would let anything bad happen to any of your family. And you know that dying would hurt your family, so you can’t do that either.

You’re all of thirteen years old and you know if push comes to shove you will  _ kill  _ for your family. 

You know your father’s supposed to be a bad person. You know he kills the incompetent yeerks, that he pushes the invasion of Earth hard, that he’s trying to take down a group of andalite Bandits no older than your brother. You know he’s as close as it gets to what anyone would think of as evil.

You know your Mom is dangerous. You’ve seen her silky smiles right before she killed a taxxon who threatened you with nothing more than a pen and a well placed strike. You know she’s driven, and she’s not going to stop until she gets what she wants. You know what she wants is the invasion, because after it her and your dad might just be free to  _ live.  _ Get to have enough hosts to not have to immediately go on another conquest.

You know that they probably got your brother from some kind of battle. Or kidnapping. Or maybe they just found him, alone and separated. You know your brother is growing up with people who his home planet would consider enemies. You know as well as he does that he doesn’t care.

And you know  _ you  _ don’t care.

So if your dad is a bad person, and your mom is a bad person… Well, you’re definitely selfish. You calculate the angles, and you act when you need to act. You’re ruthless when you need to be ruthless. Maybe that makes you a bad person too.

Maybe the fact that you sleep soundly through the night, not tormenting yourself with the moralities of things, is a bad sign. Maybe the fact that you literally cannot give a damn if the world burns is a red flag. But you don’t care about the world as a whole. You don’t care about the human race. You don’t even really care about the invasion.

What you care about is your  _ family. _

Your mom, who took care of you when her host couldn’t find the will to. Who always loved you just like the human moms loved their kids, if not with something deeper and more fierce and just  _ more.  _ Your dad, who has protected you and taught you to protect yourself. Who taught you to be strong and always challenged you, always believed you could do it. Your brother, who has been your best friend and partner in crime. Who you can tell anything. Your little sister, who is so small and so fragile it breaks your heart. 

This is your family. This is the people who love you, and the people who care about you. This is the people you love and care about.

And for them? You would let the world burn.


End file.
